27. A TVRBA RERVM.'De ces multiples affaires' (André). Heinsius conjectured CVRA, citing ix 71 (addressed to Graecinus as consul) 'cum tamena rerum curapropiore uacabit'. The conjecture is elegant enough, but the manuscript reading seems sufficiently supported byHerII 75-76 (Phyllis to Demophoon) 'de tantarerum turbafactisque parentis / sedit in ingenio Cressa relicta tuo' andEPIII i 144 'perrerum turbamtu quoque oportet eas'; compare as well Columella XI 2 25.
28. MANSVETAS ... MANVS.The same phrase in the same position at Prop III xvi 9-10 'peccaram semel, et totum sum pulsus in annum: / in memansuetasnon habet illamanus'.Mansuetusis foreign to poetic vocabulary, not being found in Virgil or Horace, and only three times in Propertius (I ix 12, I xvii 28, III xvi 10): in Ovid it occurs elsewhere only atTrIII vi 23 'numinis ut laesi fiat mansuetior ira' andIbis26.
28. PORRIGET ILLE MANVS.Manus=manum; for the latter, compareHerXVIII 15-16 'protinus haec scribens "felix i littera" dixi, / "iam tibi formosamporriget illa manum"'. Alternatively, the phrase could be taken to indicate Pompeius' gesture of welcoming to a suppliant: atMetIII 458 Narcissus, saying how he wished to embrace his reflection, says 'cumque egoporrexi tibi bracchia, porrigis ultro'.
31-32. VIVIT ADHVC VITAMQVE TIBI DEBERE FATETVR, / QVAM PRIVS A MITI CAESARE MVNVS HABET.See on i 2debitor ... uitae, and compareTrV ix 11-14 'Caesaris est primum munus, quod ducimus auras; / gratia postmagnos est tibi habenda deos. / ille dedit uitam; tu quam dedit ille tueris, / et facis accepto munere posse frui': the similarity of phrasing makes it all but certain that the poem was addressed to Pompeius.
33. MEMORI ... ORE.The phrase belongs to high poetic diction: compareMetVI 508 'absentes pro sememorirogatoresalutent',MetX 204 (Apollo to the dead Hyacinthus) 'semper eris mecummemoriquehaerebis inore', andAAIII 700 'auditosmemoridetulitoresonos'.
35. SANGVINE BISTONIVM QVOD NON TEPEFECERIT ENSEM.Another instance of high poetic diction: compareHerI 19 'sanguine Tlepolemus Lyciamtepefecerathastam',AenIX 333-34 'atrotepefactacruore / terra',AenIX 418-19 'hasta ... traiecto ... haesittepefactacerebro', and HorSatII iii 136.
37-38. ADDITA PRAETEREA VITAE QVOQVE MVLTA TVENDAE / MVNERA.The dative expresses purpose. For the sense oftueri'sustain', compareTrV ix 13 'uitam ... quam dedit illetueris', CicDeiot22 'atque antea quidem maiores copias alere poterat; nunc exiguas uixtueripotest', Livy V 4 5, XXIII 38 12 & XXXIX 9 5, and PlinyNHXXXIII 134 'M. Crassus negabat locupletem esse nisi qui reditu annuo legionemtueriposset'.
38. NE PROPRIAS ATTENVARET OPES.This may be a reference to the financial burden of living in exile, but more probably refers to theactual financial loss Ovid suffered in exile: 'ditata est spoliis perfida turba meis' (EPII vii 62). It is clear fromTrI vi 7-8 that Ovid had feared such losses from the beginning of his exile.
Attenuareis a very strong verb: compareMetVIII 843-45 (of Erysichthon) 'iamque fame patrias altique uoragine uentris /attenuarat['had exhausted'—Miller] opes, sed inattenuata manebat / tum quoque dira fames'.
39. PRO QVIBVS VT MERITIS REFERATVR GRATIA.Similar language to Pompeius at i 21 'et leuis haecmeritis referatur gratiatantis'.
40. MANCIPII ... TVI(CB2) 'belonging to your property' seems a much more elegant construction than the other manuscripts' MANCIPIVM ... TVVM 'your slave', and was conjectured by Heinsius; in support ofmancipium ... tuumBurman cited viii 65-66 'si quid adhuc igitur uiui, Germanice, nostro / restat in ingenio,seruietomne tibi'.
41-44.Ovid uses the common device of listingadynata; the second version of the device atTrI viii 1-10, where Ovid says that now his friend has betrayed him he expects to see theadynataoccur. Comprehensive listings ofadynatain ancient literature given by Smith on Tib I iv 65-66, Shackleton Bailey on Prop I xv 29, Nisbet and Hubbard on HorCarmI ii 9, xxix 10 & xxxiii 7, and by Gow on Theocritus I 132-36.
42. VELIVOLASoccurs once more at xvi 21 'ueliuolique maris uates', and nowhere else in Ovid's poetry. It is found at Lucretius V 1442 andAenI 224 'mare ueliuolum', and was from old Latin poetry: Macrobius (SatVI v 10) cites instances from Livius Andronicus (Morel 58) and Ennius (Ann380 Vahlen3;Andromache74 Ribbeck3).
43. SVPINO.'Backwards'; almost the reverse ofpraeceps. The same sense atMed Fac40 'nec redit in fontes undasupinasuos'.
45. DIXERITIS.See on 6transieritis.
45. SVA DONA.CompareHerXII 203 (Medea to Jason) 'dos mea tu sospes' and SenMed142 'muneri parcat meo [=uitae suae]' & 228-30.
46. SIC FVERIT VESTRAE CAVSA PERACTA VIAE.'So you will have carried out the reason for your journey'. The same sense ofcausaatMetVI 449-50 'coeperat aduentus causam, mandata referre / coniugis' and ofperagere(always withmandataas object) atMetVII 502, XI 629 & XIV 460,FastIII 687, andTrI i 35-36 'utperagas mandata, liber, culpabere forsan / ingeniique minor laude ferere mei'.
Professor E. Fantham points out to me that Ovid may here be playing on a second sense ofcausam peragere, 'end a speech [in court]', for which seeMetXV 36-37 'spretarumque agitur legum reus ...peractaest / causa prior ['the case for the prosecution'—Miller], crimenque patet' andHerXXI 152.
Of the Brutus to whom this poem is addressed nothing is known beyond what Ovid here tells us. He was an advocate, by Ovid's testimony an eminent one (29-38), and had been among the few who stood by Ovid at the time of his exile (23-26). The collection ofEx PontoI-III was apparently dedicated to him, since the first poem of the first book and the last poem of the third book are addressed to him, but the two poems fail to give any further information on him or on his relationship to Ovid.
Ovid starts the poem with the reflection that he has now spent five years at Tomis (1-6). Fortune has tricked him: Fabius Maximus died before he could appeal to Augustus, Augustus before he could pardon Ovid (7-16). He hopes that the poem he has written on the apotheosis of Augustus will win him pardon; Brutus' fine qualities guarantee that he shares Ovid's wishes (17-22). The poem ends with a eulogy of Brutus' character and an assurance of Ovid's eternal gratitude to those friends who stood by him (23-50).
1. QVAM LEGIS.See at ii 1quod legis(p 162).
3-4. SED TV QVOD NOLLES, VOLVIT MISERABILE FATVM; / EI MIHI, PLVS ILLVD QVAM TVA VOTA VALET.For the play onnolle/uelleand the thought of 4, compareMetIX 757-58 'quodque ego,uultgenitor,uultipsa socerque futurus, / atnon uultnatura, potentior omnibus istis'.
5. QVINQVENNIS.Ovid often mentions the time he has spent in exile: seeTrIV vi 19-20 (AD 10) 'ut patria careo,bisfrugibus area trita est, / dissiluit nudo pressabisuua pede',TrIV vii 1-2 'Bisme sol adiit gelidae post frigora brumae, /bisquesuum tacto Pisce peregit iter',TrV x 1-2 (AD 11-12) 'Vt sumus in Ponto,terfrigore constitit Hister, / facta est Euxini duraterunda maris',EPI ii 25-26 (AD 12-13) 'hic me pugnantem cum frigore cumque sagittis / cumque meo fatoquartafatigat hiemps',EPI viii 27-28 'ut careo uobis, Stygias detrusus in oras, /quattuorautumnos Pleias orta facit',EPIV x 1 (AD 14) 'Haec mihi Cimmeriobis tertiaducitur aestas', andEPIV xiii 39-40 'sed me iam, Care, niuali /sextarelegatum bruma sub axe uidet'.
Ovid's first full year of exile was AD 9; since Augustus died on 19 August 14, this poem can be securely dated to the final few months of that year.
5. OLYMPIASin Latin can mean a period of four or of five years; Ovid may have usedquinquennisto remove the ambiguity.Olympiaselsewhere in classical poetry apparently only at Manilius III 596, where it also denotes a five-year period.
5-6. OLYMPIAS ACTA / IAMHousmanOLYMPIAS ACTA EST. / IAMedd. The subject oftransitmust beOlympias, since otherwise the pentameter is without a subject. Wheeler offers 'the time is now passing to a second lustrum', which does not account for the genitivelustri... alterius(a secondtempus, in the accusative, would have to be understood), while André gives 'et déjà j'entre dans un second lustre', which does not explain the person oftransit. The editors' reading could be retained, andOlympiasunderstood as the subject of the pentameter; but it seems simpler to follow Housman in omittingest(withLandT) and joining the two lines in a single sentence.
Transitis in strict terms illogical, since an Olympiad once completed (acta) cannot pass into a second period of time, but the idiom seems natural enough in view of Ovid's use oftransirewith seasons atMetXV 206 'transit in aestatempost uer robustior annus'; compare as wellFastV 185 (to Flora) 'incipis Aprili,transis in tempora Maii'.
7. PERSTAT ENIM FORTVNA TENAX.In Ovid's case, Fortune does not show her typical inconstancy.
8. OPPONIT NOSTRIS INSIDIOSA PEDEM.Ottopes7 cites this passage and Petronius 57 10 'et habebam in domo qui mihipedem opponerenthac illac'.
9-10. CERTVS ERAS ... LOQVI.'You had made up your mind to speak'. The same idiom atHerIV 151-52,HerVII 9 'certus es, Aenea, cum foedere soluere naues ...?',MetIX 43, X 394 & XI 440; the impersonal construction atMetV 533, IX 53 'certum est mihi uera fateri' & X 38-39.
9. FABIAE LAVS, MAXIME, GENTIS.Similar phrasing atEPIII iii 2 'o sidus Fabiae, Maxime, gentis, ades'. This passage seems to be the earliest instance oflaus'object of praise; reason for praise' used of a person:TLLVII.2 1064 73 ff. cites from classical Latin onlyEleg Maec17-18 'Pallade cum docta Phoebus donauerat artes; / tu decus etlaudeshuius et huius eras', Valerius Flaccus II 243-44 'decus et patriaelausuna ruentis, / Hypsipyle', Silius XIII 824, and Martial I xlix 2-3 'nostraequelausHispaniae ... Liciniane'. LVX (F2), printed by Burman, is acceptable enough (compare CicCatIV 11 'hanc urbem,lucemorbis terrarum'), but is clearly a guess based onF1's DVX.
For a full discussion of the career of Paullus Fabius Maximus,consul ordinariusin 11 BC, see SymeHO135-55. He is the recipient ofEPI ii, a request to plead for Ovid with Augustus, andEPIII iii, an account of Ovid's vision of Amor which ends with a plea for Fabius' assistance. He is prominently mentioned at HorCarmIV i 9-12 as a suitable prey for Venus, and it appears from Juvenal VII 94-95 that he was a famous patron of literature: Ovid mentions hisscriptaatEPI ii 135. We learn from the same poem that Ovid's wife was a member of Fabius' family: 'ille ego de uestra cui data nupta domo est' (136).
10. SVPPLICE VOCE LOQVI.Similar phrasing atMetVI 33 'supplice uoceroga: ueniam dabit illa roganti'. The adjectival use ofsupplexisnot confined to verse;OLD supplex2 cites instances from Caesar and Suetonius.
11. OCCIDIS ANTE PRECES.'You died before making your request'. Since Fabius is named in an inscription (CILVI 2023a, line 17; cited by Froesch 209) as having participated in the election of Drusus to the Arval Brotherhood on 15 May AD 14, he must have died very shortly before Augustus.
11-12. CAVSAMQVE EGO, MAXIME, MORTIS ... ME REOR ESSE TVAE.The death of Fabius, so soon before that of Augustus, seems to have raised popular suspicions. Tacitus (AnnI 5 1-2) mentions a rumour that Fabius had secretly accompanied Augustus to Planasia to visit Agrippa Postumus and that his wife had warned Livia of this; Augustus heard of this, and at Fabius' funeral she was heard blaming herself for his death. If Fabius' death occurred under strange circumstances, Ovid's accusation against himself of having been its cause may have special point.
For a full discussion of the circumstances of Fabius' death, see SymeHO149-51.
12. NEC FVERAM TANTI.'But I was not worth this much'.Fueramhas the sense of the imperfect, as atAAI 103-4 'tunc neque marmoreopendebantuela theatro, / necfuerantliquido pulpita rubra croco'; other instances atHerV 69,AAII 137,AAIII 429 & 618, andTrIII xi 25. A full discussion at Platnauer 112-14: he cites thirteeninstances from Propertius, who seems to have been fondest of the idiom, and only one certain instance from Tibullus, II v 79 'haec fuerant olim'.
FVERO (BC) gives the sense 'but I will be discovered not to have been worth this much'; the tense seems difficult to fit to the context.
FVERIM (British Library Burney 220, saec xii-xiii) 'but I hope I was not worth so much' is quite possibly correct, and would account for the corruption tofuero.
12. NEC ... TANTI.Similar phrasing atMetX 613 (Atalanta ponders Hippomenes' willingness to risk death to gain her hand) 'nonsum me iudicetanti'.
13. MANDARE.'Consign'; a legal term for charging others with carrying out business on one's behalf, which carried certain obligations with it. See Gaius III 155-62, JustInstIII 26, and the discussion at Buckland 514-21.
15. DETECTAE ... CVLPAEscripsiDECEPTAE ... CVLPAEcodd.Me decipit erroris a phrase used by Ovid to mean 'I am making a mistake'; seeEPIII ix 9-12 'auctor opus laudat ... iudicium tamen hic nondecipit error['I do not make this error of judgment'], / nec quicquid genui protinus illud amo'. Ovid uses the expression very often for the "mistake" which led to his exile: seeTrI iii 37-38 (Ovid to his friends on the night of his exile) 'caelestique uiro quis medeceperit error/ dicite pro culpa ne scelus esse putet',TrIV i 23 'scit quoque [scMusa]cum perii quis medeceperit error', andEPII ii 61 'quasi me nullusdeceperit error'. He usesdecipereonce when speaking of the other cause of his exile: 'o puer [scAmor], exiliideceptocausa magistro' (EPIII iii 23). Wheeler tookdeceptaeto refer to Ovid: 'Augustus had begun to pardon the fault I committed in error'. This kind of extreme hypallage, with the true modified noun not expressed, does not however seem to be Ovid's practice, although found in the Silver poets: StatiusThebIX 425 'deceptaque fulmina' means 'the thunderbolts thrown by Jupiter at the request of Semele, who had beendeceivedby Juno'. Professor J. N. Grant suggests DECEPTI to me; but the genitive of the first person is rare in Ovid, and the perfect participle without expressed noun seems difficult. Owen saw the difficulty withdeceptae, and in his second edition referred to Livy XXII 4 4 'id tantum hostium quod ex aduerso erat conspexit; ab tergo ac super caputdeceptaeinsidiae'. Butdeceptae(which has been variously emended) there meansoccultae, as explained by Housman (521-22), who cited Prop II xxiv 35-36 'Phrygio fallax Maeandria campo / errat et ipsa suasdecipitunda uias' and SenHF155 for the same sense; andoccultaeis clearly not the meaning here required, since Ovid's misdemeanour was all too visible.
Being unable to explaindeceptae, I have conjectureddetectae. Ovid seems to have committed hiserrorin two stages. First he committed the original misdemeanour; then he kept silent about it when it might have been better for him to speak. CompareTrIII vi 11-13'cuique ego narrabam secreti quicquid habebam, / excepto quod me perdidit, unus eras. / id quoque si scisses, saluo fruerere sodali'. Later this misdemeanour was discovered: for the arrival of the news of this discovery when Ovid was visiting Elba with Cotta Maximus, seeEPII iii 83-90. It is to this discovery thatdetectaerefers: 'Augustus had begun to forgive the misdemeanour that had been revealed'. For this use ofdetegerecompareMetII 544-47 'ales / sensit adulterium Phoebeius [coruus, the raven], utque latentem /detegeret culpam, non exorabilis index, / ad dominum tendebat iter' and Livy XXII 28 8 'necubi ... motus alicuius ... aut fulgor armorum fraudem ... detegeret'.
Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the parallel problem atMetIX 711 'indecepta pia mendacia fraude latebant', where context requiresindeceptato have the meaning 'undetected'.Indeceptamight be taken to supportdeceptaein the present passage, but I am more inclined to readindetectaforindecepta: of the various conjectures made, Zingerle'sinde inceptais most commonly accepted.
AtHerIX 101-2 'tolle procul,decepte, faces, Hymenaee, maritas / et fuge turbato tecta nefanda pede!',detecteshould similarly be read.Detectebetter explains why Hymenaeus should flee; also, Hymenaeus has not been deceived, for it appears from 61-62 'spes bona det uires; fratris [Palmer: fratricodd] nam nupta futura es; / illius de quo mater, et uxor eris' that Macareus had fully intended to marry Canace.
16. SPEM NOSTRAM TERRAS DESERVITQVE SIMVL.The-queshould of course be taken withterras.
This is a typical instance of Ovid's love ofsyllepsis, of giving a single verb two objects (or more), each of which uses a different meaning of the verb. Compare, from many instances, ix 90 'nec cum fortuna mens quoque uersa mea est',HerVII 9 'certus es, Aenea, cum foedere soluere naues',MetII 601-2 'et pariter uultusque deo plectrumque colorque / excidit',MetVIII 177,FastIII 225,FastIII 857 'hic [the messenger of Ino] ... corruptus cum semine',FastV 652 'montibus his ponunt spemque laremque suum', andEPII vii 84 'meque simul serua iudiciumque tuum'.
16. DESERVITQVE.Ovid does not usedesererewith things as object until his poetry of exile: compareTrI ix 65 'nec amicideserecausam'. Instances in the laterHeroidesat XV 155 'Sapphodesertoscantat amores' and XVI 260 'orantis mediasdeseruerepreces'; in both cases the objects are virtually equivalent to persons.
17. TAMEN.'In spite of my dejection'.
17-18. DE CAELITE ... RECENTI ... CARMEN.The poem does not survive. At xiii 25-32 Ovid describes a similar poem on the apotheosis of Augustus, written in Getic.
17. RECENTI.'New, freshly created'. Used in similar contexts atMetIV 434-35 'umbraequerecentes... simulacraque functa sepulcris', VIII 488 'fraterni manes animaequerecentes', X 48-49 'Eurydicenque uocant: umbras erat illarecentes/ inter', and especially XV 844-46 'Venus ... Caesaris eripuit membris nec in aera solui / passarecentemanimam caelestibus intulit astris'.
18. VESTRA= 'of you [plural] at Rome'.
18. CARMEN IN ORA DEDI.'I sent a poem for you to recite from and speak of'.Daremeaning 'send' is usually restricted to use withlitteras(OLD do10; compare CicAttII i 12 & IX viiB 1, Livy XXVII 16 13).
Forin ora, compare Catullus XL 5 'an ut perueniasin orauulgi [schoc facis]?', HorEpI iii 9 '... Titius, Romana breui uenturusin ora', Prop III ix 32 (to Maecenas) 'et uenies tu quoquein orauirum',TrV vii 29-30 'non tamen ingratum est quodcumque obliuia nostri / impedit et profugi nomenin orarefert', and Livy II 36 3. The only instance I have found of the expression being used of a thing rather than a person other than this passage is also from Ovid: 'illud opus ... nunc incorrectum populi peruenitin ora, / in populi quicquam si tamen ore mei est' (TrIII xiv 21-24). Neither passage would have seemed strange to the Romans, given the close identification between poet and work: compare Ennius' famous 'uolito uiuo' per ora uirum' andMetXV 878 'ore legar populi'.
19. QVAE PIETAS.'This demonstration of loyalty'.
20. SACRAE ... DOMVS.Augustus' house called 'magni ... Iouis ... domum' atTrIII i 38; compare as wellEPIII i 135 'domus Augusti, Capitoli more colenda'.
20. MITIOR IRA.CompareEPIII iii 83 'pone metus igitur:mitescetCaesarisira'.
21. LIQVIDO POSSVM IVRARE.'I can swear unambiguously'. The only other instance of this sense in verse apparently III iii 49-50 'scis tamen etliquidoiuratus dicere possis / non me legitimos sollicitasse toros'. From prose compare CicII VerrIV 124 'confirmare hocliquido, iudices, possum, ualuas magnificentiores ... nullas umquam ullo in templo fuisse',II VerrIII 136,FamXI 27 7 'alia sunt quaeliquidonegare soleam', and SenBenVII 9 5.
22. NON DVBIA ... NOTA.The phrase logically belongs with the preceding line: on the firm evidence of Brutus' past behaviour (described in 23-42), Ovid can confidently state that Brutus prays for his restoration.Non dubiaby litotes forcerta(for which seeHerXX 207 'te ... nimium miror,nota certafuroris');nota'tangible sign, evidence' similarly used atMetI 761 (generis). FIDE (LTM2ulF2ul) is an obvious gloss fornota.
23. VERVM ... AMOREM.'Sincere love' (Wheeler); compareMetV 61 'uerinon dissimulatoramoris'andTrIV iv 71 'et comes exemplumueriPhoceusamoris'.
25. TVAS ... LACRIMAS NOSTRASQVE.The tears of Ovid's friends at his departure described atTrIII iv 39-40,EPI ix 17-18, andEPII xi 9-10 (to Rufus) 'grande uoco lacrimas meritum quibus ora rigabas, / cum mea concreto sicca dolore forent'.
26. PASSVROS POENAM CREDERET ESSE DVOS.CompareTrV iv 37-38 (Ovid's letter speaking) 'quamuis attonitus, sensit tamen omnia,nec te / se minus aduersis indoluisse suis'.
27. LENEM TE MISERIS GENVIT NATURA.Compare CicTuscII 11 'tenaturaexcelsum quendam uidelicet et altum et humana despicientemgenuit' and EnniusAnn112 Vahlen3(of Romulus) 'qualem te patriae custodem digenuerunt'.
29. MARTE FORENSI.Similar metaphor for the lawcourts atFastIV 188 'et foraMarte suolitigiosa uacent',TrIII xii 17-18 'ludis / cedunt uerbosi garrulabellafori' andTrIV x 17-18 'frater ... fortia uerbosi natus adarmafori'. According to Ovid real wounds were suffered in the forum at Tomis: 'adde quod iniustum rigido ius dicitur ense, / dantur et in medio uulnera saepe foro' (TrV x 43-44).
30. POSSE TVO PERAGI VIX PVTET ORE REOS.Similar language atTrI i 23-24 'protinus admonitus repetet mea crimina lector, /et peragar populi publicus ore reus'.Peragererefers to the prosecution of a defendant carried to its end, but does not imply success for the prosecutor: see PlinyEpIII ix 30 and UlpianDigXLVIII v 2 1'non alias ad mulierem possit peruenire, nisi reum peregerit [scadulterii]; peregisse autem non alias quis uidetur,nisi et condemnauerit'.
31. QVAMVIS PVGNARE VIDENTVRBMFH. Given the dependentpugnare, it seems hardly possible to read the VIDETVR given by the other manuscripts. The same problem arises atMetVIII 463-64 'pugnantmaterque sororque, / et diuersa trahunt unum duo nomina pectus', where the manuscripts divide betweenpugnantandpugnat; for an unambiguous parallel, seeHerXIX 173 'nunc, male res iunctae, calor et reuerentiapugnant'.
Heinsius further suggested deletingestfrom the precedingscilicet eiusdem est'cum tribus libris', but the change in number does not seem unduly harsh.
32. SVPPLICIBVS FACILEM.See on iv 30faciles in tua uota, and compareAmII iii 5-6 (to his girl's eunuch) 'mollis in obsequiumfacilisque rogantibusesses, / si tuus in quauis praetepuisset amor' andHerXVI 197-98 'da modo tefacilem, nec dedignare maritum ... Phrygem'.
Ovid is here indirectly referring to his own situation: compareEPIII iii 107-8 'at tuasupplicibusdomus est adsuetaiuuandis, /in quorum numero me precor esse uelis'.
33. LEGIS VINDICTA.'The exacting of punishment on behalf of the law'. The law has been broken, and therefore demands retribution; Brutus acts on its behalf. For the sense of the genitive compare Val Max I 1 ext 3:(Dionysius of Syracuse committed many acts of sacrilege, but punishment was visited on him after his death in the form of his son's ignominious career) 'lento enim gradu aduindictam suidiuina procedit ira tarditatemque supplicii grauitate pensat'.
33. LEGIS ... SEVERAE.Seueraehere serves as a standard epithet and has no such special force as atEPIII iii 57-58 'uetiti ...lege seuera/ credor adulterii composuisse notas'.
34. VERBA VELVT TAETRVM SINGVLA VIRVS HABENT.The same image atEPIII iii 105-6 'ergo alii noceant miseris optentque timeri, /tinctaque mordaci spicula felle gerant'.
34. TAETRVMR. J. TarrantTINCTVEhwaldTINCTVMcodd.Tinctumis impossible: if the word were used, it would have to go withuerba. CompareIbis53-54 'liber iambus /tinctaLycambeo sanguineteladabit',Ibis491 '[tamque cadas domitus ...] quam quidonatulit Nesseotinctaueneno',EPIII i 26'tinctaquemortifera tabesagittamadet', andEPIII iii 106'tinctaquemordacispiculafelle gerant'. Ehwald'stinctuis linguistically and palaeographically somewhat better than Merkel'stinguat: for similar corruptions compareFastIII 612 'flet tamenadmonitumotus, Elissa, tui', where many manuscripts readadmonitus, andTrI iv 9 'pinea texta sonant pulsu [Rothmaler: pulsicodd], stridore rudentes'. Even so, 'Each of your words carries poison, as though it had been dipped in it' seems awkward. For Professor Tarrant'staetrumcompare Lucretius I 936'absinthia taetra',Dirae23 'taetra uenena', andHal131 'nigrum ... uirus'.
34. VIRVS HABENT.CompareTrIV i 84 'aut telouirus habenteperit' & III x 64 'nam uolucri ferro tinctileuirus inest'.
35-36. HOSTIBVS EVENIAT QUAM SIS VIOLENTVS IN ARMIS / SENTIRE.Hostibus eueniatis a common phrase in Ovid: compareAmII x 16-17 'hostibus eueniatuita seuera meis! /hostibus eueniatuiduo dormire cubili',AmIII xi 16,AAIII 247,FastIII 493-94 'at, puto, praeposita est fuscae mihi Candida paelex! /eueniat nostris hostibusille dolor [recc quidam: colorcodd plerique]!', andHerXVI 219-20 (Paris to Helen) 'hostibus eueniantconuiuia talia nostris, / experior posito qualia saepe mero!'.
37. QVAE TIBI TAM TENVI CVRA LIMANTVR.'Which are sharpened by you with such painstaking care'. For this meaning oflimarecompare PlinyNHVIII 71 'cornu ad saxalimato' and CicBrut236 '[M. Piso ...] habuit a natura genus quoddamacuminis, quod etiam artelimauerat'.
37-38. VT OMNES / ISTIVS INGENVI PECTORIS ESSE NEGENT.'So that all would deny that they are the product of your kindly spirit'; for this sense ofingenuuscompare Catullus LXVIII 37-38 'quod cum ita sit, nolim statuas nos mente maligna / id facere autanimonon satisingenuo'.Ingenui pectorisis my correction for the manuscripts' INGENIVM CORPORIS, which could only mean 'so that all would denythat the talent of your body exists'; Ovid can hardly be identifying thetelaof 36 with Brutus'ingenium. Wheeler translates 'On these [the missiles of your tongue] you use the file with such extreme care that none would recognize in them your real nature', and André 'que personne ne croirait qu'un tel esprit habite ton corps'; neither translation fits the Latin. Shackleton Bailey's INGENIVM NOMINIS still leaves unsolved the problem ofingenium.
The corruption ofingenuitoingenium(or rather,ingeniū) is simple enough; and the interchange ofpectusandcorpusis a common error.
42. NOTITIAM ... INFITIATA.Infitiariused similarly atEPI vii 27 'nec tuus est genitor nosinfitiatusamicos'.
43. IMMEMOR ... IMMEMOR.Professor R. J. Tarrant points out the similar epanalepsis at HorEpI xi 9 'oblitusquemeorum,obliuiscenduset illis'.
44. SOLLICITIBCM2ulSOLLICITEM1FHILT. The adjective with adverbial meaning would be especially liable to corruption. The same construction atAmII iv 25 'dulce canit flectitquefacillimauocem'.
44. LEVASTISBarberinus lat. 26, saec xiiiLEVATISBCMFHILT. If 44 were taken in isolation,leuatis, which most editors print, would be acceptable enough; compareTrIV i 49 ' iure deas igitur ueneror mala nostraleuantes' andEPIII vi 13-14 'nec scelus admittas si consoleris amicum, / mollibus et uerbis aspera fataleues'. But it is clear from42 'est infitiata' and 49 'doluistis' that Ovid is speaking of the time of his banishment, and soleuastismust be read. CompareTrI v 75 'me deus oppressit, nullomala nostra leuante',EPII vii 61-62 'recta fides comitum poteratmala nostra leuare: / ditata est spoliis perfida turba meis', andEPIII ii 25-26 'pars estis pauci melior, qui rebus in artis / ferre mihi nullam turpe putastis [uarputatis] opem'.
45-50.Compare the listing ofadynataat the end of v (41-44), which again illustrates Ovid's eternal gratitude (to Sextus Pompeius). Here the personal detail (hic nimium nobis conterminus Hister) makes theadynatonreflect Ovid's own circumstances.
46. DE MARE.The same form of the ablative atTrV ii 20 'pleno de mare'. Compare Ovid's frequent use of the metrically convenient ablative in-eof third-declension adjectives.
47-48.Thyestes' feast cited as a proverbial example atMetXV 62 (Pythagoras is urging a vegetarian diet) 'neue Thyesteis cumulemus uiscera mensis',TrII 391-92 'si non Aeropen [Politianus: MeropenuelEuropencodd] frater sceleratus amasset, / auersos Solis non legeremus equos', Lucan I 534-44, and Martial III xlv 1-2 'Fugerit an Phoebus mensas cenamque Thyestae / ignoro: fugimus nos, Ligurine, tuam'.
47. VTQVE ... SI=et, quasi. All of the instances of the idiom cited by Lewis & ShortutII A 2e andOLD ut8d are from prose, except for TerEun117 and Lucilius 330 Marx. In none of these passages isutseparated fromsi: the hyperbaton elevates the phrase and makes more natural its use in verse.
49. QVI ME DOLVISTIS ADEMPTVM.'Who mourned my exile' is the meaning imposed by context, but the phrase would usually mean 'who mourned my death': compareEPI ix 41 'iure igitur lacrimas Celso libamusadempto', and the similar use ofraptusfor the exiled Ovid at xi 5 and xvi 1. For Ovid's considering his exile as his death, see xvi 1-4,TrIII iii 53 'cum patriam amisi, tunc me periisse putato', andEPI ix 56 'et nos extinctis adnumerare potest'.
Vestalis, a younger son of Cottius, monarch of a small kingdom in the Alps (see at 29 [p 253]), wasprimipilarisof the legion of the area (perhaps theV Macedonica). He had just been named administrator of the region around Tomis (see at 1); as an important local official, he was a natural choice as recipient of one of Ovid's letters.
The poem starts with a description of the harsh climate of Tomis, to which Vestalis along with Ovid can now testify, and of the savagery of the inhabitants (1-12). This serves as a bridge to a compliment to Vestalis on being namedprimipilaris(13-18), and to the main body of the poem, a long and rather conventional description of how Vestalis led the final attack in the recovery of Aegissos (19-52). In the concluding distich Ovid declares that he has rendered immortal the deeds of Vestalis.
1. ORAS(CI) seems more suited to the nature of Vestalis' command than VNDAS, the reading of the other manuscripts. AfterEuxinas, corruption fromorastoundaswould be very easy, the inverse less so. Ovid does not elsewhere useEuxinae orae, the usual substantives withEuxinusbeingaquae,mare,fretum, and, closest in meaning,litus, for which see iii 51 'litus ad Euxinum ... ibis',TrV ii 63-64 'iussus ad Euxini deformia litora ueni / aequoris', andTrV iv 1.
2. POSITIS ... SVB AXEin effect acts as a single adjective meaning 'northern';axeplays a subordinate role and so does not require an epithet. The phrasing may be based on Accius 566-67 Ribbeck2'[ora ...]sub axe positaad Stellas septem, unde horrifer / Aquilonis stridor gelidas molitur niues'.Lycaonio ... sub axeatTrIII ii 2.
3. ASPICIS EN PRAESENS.Compare ix 81-86, where Ovid invites Graecinus to ask his brother Flaccus, recently stationed in the Pontus, about conditions of life in the area.
3. IACEAMVS.'Lie suffering': similarly used atEPI iii 49 'orbis in extremiiaceodesertus harenis', I vii 5, II ix 4 & III i 85 'ut minus infestaiaceamregione labora'.
4. FALSA ... QVERI.Perhaps a common phrase: Professor R. J. Tarrant cites SallustIug1 'Falso queriturde natura sua genus humanum'.
5-6. ACCEDET ... FIDES.'People will believe'. Compare CicDiuI 5 'Cratippusque ... isdem rebusfidem tribuit, reliqua diuinationis genera reiecit' and TacGerm3 4 'ex ingenio quisquedemat uel addat fidem' 'each can believe or disbelieve this according to his disposition'.
5-6. NON IRRITA ... FIDES=rata fides, a phrase meaning 'trustworthiness',ratahaving no special force. CompareMetIII 341 'primafide[genitive] ...rataetemptamina',TrI v 49-50 'multa credibili tulimusratamque, / quamuis acciderint, non habiturafidem', andTrIII x 35-36'cum sint praemia falsi / nulla,ratamdebet testis haberefidem'. Note the hyperbaton in all these passages.
6. ALPINIS IVVENIS REGIBVS ORTE.See at 29progenies alti fortissima Donni(p 253). For the language, compare HorCarmI i 1 'Maecenas atauis edite regibus'.
7. IPSE VIDES CERTE GLACIE CONCRESCERE PONTVM.At ix 85-86 Ovid tells Graecinus to ask his brother Flaccus 'mentiar, an coeat duratus frigore Pontus, / et teneat glacies iugera multa freti'.
Similar language atTrIII x 37-38 'uidimus ingentem glacie consistere pontum, / lubricaque [codd: lubrica cumfort scribendum] immotas testa premebat aquas'.
8. IPSE VIDES RIGIDO STANTIA VINA GELV.The same picture more explicitly given atTrIII x 23-24 'nudaque consistunt, formam seruantia testae, / uina, nec hausta meri, sed data frusta bibunt'.
9-10. IPSE VIDES ONERATA FEROX VT DVCAT IAZYX / PER MEDIAS HISTRI PLAVSTRA BVBVLCVS AQVAS.Similar descriptions atTrIII x 33-34 'perque nouos pontes, subterlabentibus undis, /ducunt Sarmatici barbara plaustra boues' andTrIII xii 29-30 'nec mare concrescit glacie, nec ut ante per Histrum / stridula Sauromatesplaustra bubulcusagit'.
9. IAZYX.TheIazyges Sarmataeare mentioned by Pliny (NHIV 80) and by Strabo (VII 3 17), who describes them as one of several tribesliving between the Borysthenes (Dnepr) and the Danube. They are also listed by Pompey, under the name of 'Iazyges Metanastae', the Wandering Iazyges (GeogIII 7); the 'Iazyges' he describes as living along the shore of the Maeotis (III 5 19). Tacitus mentions the nation atAnnXII 29 4 (Vannius, king of the Suebi, is under attack) 'ipsi manus propria pedites, eques e Sarmaticis Iazygibus erat' and atHistIII 5 (theprincipes Sarmatarum Iazygumare enlisted to ensure the defence of Moesia in the absence of the regular troops; their offer to raise infantry as well as supplying their usual force of cavalry is rejected because of the fear of future treachery).
The name of the tribe was difficult metrically, so here Ovid calls themIazyges, while atTrIII xii 30 (cited in the previous note) he calls themSauromatae. AtEPI ii 77 he solves the difficulty through hendiadys: 'quidSauromataefaciant, quidIazygesacres'.
11. ASPICIS.Ovid here uses verbs of seeing in an interesting way. At 7 and 9 he hasuides; thenaspicissuggests continuity but at the same time movement toward a new subject, and with a military detail introduced so as to introduce Vestalis' experience of war; then in 13-14 the emphasis is changed by the contrary-to-fact past optativeutinam ... spectata fuisset.
11. ASPICIS ET MITTI SVB ADVNCO TOXICA FERRO.'You behold how poison is hurled on the barbed steel' (Wheeler). Thetelumof 12 should be taken to be a spear, sincemitterenever seems to be usedof arrows. AtIbis135 thehastais mentioned as the special weapon of the Iazyges.
11. ADVNCO.The spear had hooks. CompareMetVI 252-53 'quod [scferrum] simul eductum est, pars et pulmonisin hamis/ eruta cumque anima cruor est effusus in auras', where Bömer cites among other passages Curtius IX 5 23 'corpore ... nudato animaduertunthamos inesse telonec aliter id sine pernicie corporis extrahi posse quam ut secando uulnus augerent' and Prop II xii 9 'et meritohamatismanus est armata sagittis'.
13-14. ATQVE VTINAM PARS HAEC TANTUM SPECTATA FVISSET, / NON ETIAM PROPRIO COGNITA MARTE TIBI.A similar opposition atMetIII 247-48 (of Actaeon)'uelletque uidere, / non etiam sentirecanum fera facta suorum'.
15. TENDITVROwenTENDITIScodd. The number oftenditisis inappropriate to the context. Owen'stenditur, independently conjectured two years later by Ehwald (KB84), seems a somewhat more elegant solution to the problem than Merkel's TENDISTI. It puts the weight of the line onad primum ... pilumrather than on Vestalis himself; the pentameter, with its emphasis on thehonor, suggests that this is right.
15. PRIMVM PILVM.CompareAmIII viii 27-28 'proque bono uersuprimumdeducitepilum! / nox [A. Y. Campbell: hocuelhiccodd] tibi, sibelles [Madvig: uellescodd], possit, Homere, dari'. Theprimipilariswas the commander of the first century of the first cohort of the Roman legion, and hence first in rank among the legion's centurions.
17. PLENISis the reading of all but two of the manuscripts collated. For this sense ofplenus('abundant'), compareAmI viii 56 'plenauenit canis de grege praeda lupis',Nux91-92 'illa [the tree that is not near a road] suo quaecumque tulit dare dona colono / etplenosfructus adnumerare potest', HorSatI i 57, and CicSex Rosc6 'alienam pecuniam tamplenamatque praeclaram'. Ehwald read PLENVS (FacI), joiningingenswithuirtusin the following line, arguing that the honour would not seem a great one to a member of a royal family. But Ovid devoted four lines to describing Vestalis' new rank: he must have believed that Vestalis would consider it a very great honour indeed. As well, ifingensis connected withtitulus,uirtus ... maiorgains point.
17. PLENIS ... FRVCTIBVS.For the wealth of theprimipilaris, seeAmIII viii 9-10 'ecce recens diues parto per uulnera censu / praefertur nobis sanguine pastus eques'. In that poem the newly-richprimipilaris, Ovid's rival in love, is given a character very different from that of Vestalis.
17. INGENSis used at ix 65 of another office, the consulship.
18. IPSA TAMEN VIRTVS ORDINE MAIOR ERIT.A similar sentiment atEPII ix 11-14 (to king Cotys) 'regia, crede mihi, res est succurrerelapsis ... fortunam decet hoc istam ['this befits your position'],quae maxima cum sit, / esse potest animo uix tamen aequa tuo'.
19. NON NEGAT HOC HISTER.For the device of calling to witness the scenes of military exploits compare Catullus LXIV 357 'testis erit magnis uirtutibus unda Scamandri' and the passages there cited by Fordyce. Fornon negatProfessor A. Dalzell cites Catullus IV 6-7 'negat ... negare'.
20. PVNICEAM GETICO SANGVINE FECIT AQVAM.Similar language at ix 79-80 (of Flaccus) 'hic raptam Troesmin celeri uirtute recepit, /infecitque fero sanguine Danuuium'.
21. AEGISSOS.The city, the modern Tulcea, is situated about 110 kilometres directly north of Tomis (Constanţa) on the southernmost branch of the Danube, 60 kilometres from the mouth of the river. AtEPI viii 11-20 Ovid describes the recapture of the city from the Getes; evidently the city had been lost once again.
Aegissosis the spelling certified by three of the five sources cited by Mommsen (CILIII page 1009), namely HieroclesSynecdemus637 14,Notitia dignitatum99, and ProcopiusAedIV 7 20. TheItinerarium Antoninianum(226 2) offersAegiso(ablative); Ehwald (KB41), citing Mommsen, took this as sufficient justification for retaining the singlesof theEx Pontomanuscripts, although the now lost Strasbourg manuscript hadegissusat I viii 13 (and an indication of an alternative ending in-os). TheRavenna Cosmography(4 5), Mommsen's final source, readsAegypsum.
27. TE SVBEVNTE RECEPTA.'Recaptured on your attack'. Intransitivesubirein this sense belongs to military vocabulary: compare CaesarBGVII 85 'alii tela coniciunt, alii testudine factasubeunt' and Curtius IV 2 23. For instances from military prose ofsubirewith a direct object see CaesarBGII 27 'subireiniquissimum locum', HirtiusBGVIII 15,Bell Alex76 2 'subierantiniquum locum', andBell Hisp24 2.
22. INGENIO ... LOCI.'The nature (i.e. difficulty) of its terrain'. The same standard phrase at TacAnnVI 41 'locorumque ingenio',HistI 51 'diu infructuosam et asperam militiam tolerauerantingenio locicaelique ['climate']', and from OvidTrV x 17-18 'tumulus defenditur ipse / moenibus exiguis ingenioque loci' andEPII i 52 '[oppida ...] nec satisingeniotuta fuisseloci'.
22. NIL OPIS.The expression is rather prosaic: compare CicFamIV i 1 'aliquid opisrei publicae tulissemus'.
23. DVBIVMBMFHITDVBIVM ESTCL. The same variant in many manuscripts atEPIII i 17-18 (Ovid is addressing Tomis) 'nec tibi sunt fontes laticis nisi paene marini, / qui potusdubiumsistat alatne sitim'.
24. NVBIBVS AEQVA.'As high as the clouds'. For this use ofaequuscompareAenIX 674 'abietibus iuuenes patriis in [Heyne: etcodd;cf Il XII 132'ἕστασαν ὡς ὅτε τε δρύες οὔρεσιν ὑψικάρηνοι'] montibus aequos', StatiusAchI 173 'aequus uerticematri', SenEp94 61 'aequum arcibus aggerem ... et muros in miram altitudinem eductos', andAenIV 89 'aequataquemachina caelo'.
25. SITHONIO=Thracio.
25. INTERCEPERAT.Intercipere'capture' common in Livy (IX 43 3, XXI 1 5, XXVI 51 12, XXXVI 31 10); compare Ammianus XX 7 17 & XX 10 3 'locis ... recuperatis quae olim barbari intercepta retinebant ut propria'.
26. EREPTAS VICTOR HABEBAT OPES.Similar phrasing atFastIII 49-51 'hoc ubi cognouit contemptor Amulius aequi / (namraptasfratriuictor habebat opes), / amne iubet mergi geminos'.
27. FLVMINEA ... VNDA.Flumineusdoes not occur elsewhere in theTristiaorEx Ponto;fluminea ... aquaatFastII 46 & 596.
27. VITELLIVS.This Vitellius is presumably one of the four sons of Publius Vitellius, grandfather of the emperor. Suetonius wrote of the sons, Aulus, Quintus, Publius, and Lucius, that they were 'quattuor filios amplissimae dignitatis cognomines ac tantum praenominibus distinctos' (Vit2 2). Heinsius suggested Aulus (cosAD 32) was the one here meant, 'nisi ad L. Vitellium patrem [scprincipis] referre mauis'. 'On the general and reasonable assumption', wrote Syme (HO90), 'this is P. Vitellius'. But Suetonius calls P. Vitellius 'Germanici comes', and he is heard of in 15 assisting Germanicus in a campaign (TacAnnI 70 1): it is perhaps more likely that Publius would havebeen with Germanicus at the time of the capture of Aegissos, and that another of the brothers is meant. Certainty is in any case not attainable.
29. PROGENIES ALTI FORTISSIMA DONNI.For the phrasing, compareEPII ix 1-2 'Regiaprogenies, cui nobilitatis origo / nomen in Eumolpi peruenit usque ['goes back to'], Coty'.
The Donnus here referred to is Vestalis' grandfather (CILV 7817), or possibly a more distant ancestor. Vestalis' father, Cottius, became a client of Augustus; at XV 10 7 Ammianus mentions the worship still accorded Cottius 'quod iusto moderamine rexerat suos, et ascitus in societatem rei Romanae quietem genti praestitit sempiternam'. AtNero18 Suetonius mentions as one of the few additions to the empire under Nero the 'regnum ... Alpium defuncto Cottio'. This Cottius would probably have been Vestalis' older brother; André is therefore right to infer that Vestalis 'n'était pas l'héritier du trône, ce qu'Ovide n'aurait pas manqué de signaler'.
30. IMPETVS.Impetus+ infinitive usually indicates a mad impulse: the only other exception in Ovid isMetV 287-88 (one of the Muses speaking) 'impetus ire fuit; claudit sua tecta Pyreneus / uimque parat, quam nos sumptis effugimus alis'.
31. CONSPICVVS LONGE FVLGENTIBVS ARMIS.Modelled onAenXI 769 'insignis longePhrygiisfulgebatinarmis'.
32. FORTIA NE POSSINT FACTA LATERE CAVES.Vestalis would in any case have fought bravely; so that his deeds would not pass unnoticed, he led the attack.
33. INGENTIQVE GRADV.When Ovid elsewhere useingens gradus(passus) he gives the phrase a humorous tone: seeAmIII i 11 'uenit etingentiuiolenta Tragoediapassu',AAIII 303-4 'illa uelut coniunx Vmbri rubicunda mariti / ambulatingentesuarica fertquegradus', andMetXIII 776-77 (of Polyphemus) 'gradiensingentilitorapassu/ degrauat'. The straightforwardness of this passage is of a piece with the rest of the poem.
For an example of the normal epic use of this detail, seeAenX 572 'longe gradientem'.
33. FERRVM LOCVMQVEreflects 23 'dubiumpositumelius defensamanune'.
34. SAXAQVE ... GRANDINE PLVRA.The same phrase in the same metrical position atIbis467-68 'aut te deuoueat certis Abdera diebus, /saxaquedeuotumgrandine plurapetant'.
35. MISSA SVPER IACVLORVM TVRBA.'The crowding missiles hurled from above' (Wheeler).
38. FERE.Heinsius' FERO would involve the repetition offeroin 44; andfero uulnerewould be rather feeble when applied to a shield.
Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me that Ovid's description of Vestalis' exploit may have served as a distant model for Lucan'saccount of how a centurion named Scaeua rallied Caesar's forces and led an attack against Pompey's encampment (VI 140-262). Scaeua was madeprimipilarisin reward for his bravery (CaesarBCIII 53 5).
40. SED MINOR EST ACRI LAVDIS AMORE DOLOR.Similar language of a similar exploit atMetXI 525-28 'ut miles, numero praestantior omni, / cum saepe adsiluit defensae moenibus urbis, / spe potitur tandemlaudisque accensus amore/ inter mille uiros murum tamen occupat unus'. Ovid's description of Vestalis' exploit is little more than a string of conventional phrases.
40. ACRI.'Sharp'. Compare ii 36 'immensum gloriacalcarhabet'.
41-42. TALIS APVD TROIAM DANAIS PRO NAVIBVS AIAX / DICITVR HECTOREAS SVSTINVISSE FACES.CompareMetXIII 7-8 (Ajax speaking of Ulysses) 'at non Hectoreis dubitauit cedere flammis, / quas ego sustinui, quas hac a classe fugaui' andMetXIII 384-85 (the death of Ajax) 'Hectora qui solus, qui ferrum ignesque Iouemque / sustinuit totiens, unam non sustinet iram'. All three passages are drawn fromIlXV 674-746, the description of how Ajax repulsed Hector's attempt to set the Greek ships afire, and in particular from 730-31 'ἔνθ' ἄρ' ὅ γ' ἕστήκει δεδοκημένος, ἔγχεϊ δ' αἰεὶ / Τρῶας ἄμυνε νεῶν, ὅς τις φέροι ἀκάματον πῦρ'.
41. PRO NAVIBVS.'In front of the ships'; a reminiscence ofIlXV 746 (the final line of the book) 'δώδεκα δὲ προπάροιθε νεῶν αὐτοσχεδὸν οὖτα'.
43. DEXTERA DEXTRAE.Ovid used syncope indexterawhere metrically convenient. Elsewhere when he employs the two forms he is usuallydescribing the joining of hands in pledge or friendship. SeeHerII 31 'commissaquedextera dextrae',HerXII 90 'dextrae dexteraiuncta meae', andMetVI 447-48 'dextera dextrae/ iungitur'. For a different use, seeMetIII 640-41 'dextera[uardextra] Naxos erat:dextramihi lintea danti / "quid facis, o demens? quis te furor," inquit "Acoete?"'.
45-46. DICERE DIFFICILE EST QVID MARS TVVS EGERIT ILLIC, / QVOTQVE NECI DEDERIS QVOSQVE QVIBVSQVE MODIS.As Professor E. Fantham points out to me, thispraeteritiotakes the place of a fullaristeiadetailing Vestalis' exploits.
46. QVOSQVE QVIBVSQVE MODIS.Comparequotque quibusque modisin an erotic context atAmII viii 28, andTrIII xii 33-34 'sedulus occurram nautae, dictaque salute, / quid ueniat quaeramquisue quibusue locis'.
47. ENSE TVO FACTOS CALCABAS VICTOR ACERVOS.CompareMetV 88 (of Perseus) 'extructos morientumcalcat aceruos'.
50. MVLTAQVE FERT MILES VVLNERA, MVLTA FACIT.A similar conjunction of verbs atFastII 233-34 'non moriuntur inulti, /uulneraquealternadantque feruntquemanu'.
52. IBAT.IBIT (BP) is printed by all modern editors except André, and is possibly correct: compareAmII iv 31-32 'ut taceam de me, qui causa tangor ab omni, / illic Hippolytum pone, Priapuserit' for the future tense used of a mythological character, andEPII xi 21-22 'acer et ad palmae per se cursurus honores, / si tamen horteris, fortiusibit[uaribat] equus' for the corruption of future to imperfect.
53. TEMPVS IN OMNE.Similar promises of immortality atTrI vi 36 (to his wife) 'carminibus uiuestempus in omnemeis',EPII vi 33-34 (to Graecinus) 'crede mihi, nostrum si non mortale futurum est / carmen, in ore frequens posteritatis eris', andEPIII i 93 (to his wife) 'nota tua est probitas testataquetempus in omne'.
Vestalis is known to us only through this poem.
This poem, nominally addressed to Suillius, husband of Ovid's stepdaughter, is in fact directed to Germanicus, of whose staff Suillius was a member (see at 23 [pp 264-65]).
Ovid begins the poem by expressing his pleasure at receiving, at last, a letter from Suillius, saying he hopes that Suillius does not feel ashamed of being related to him by marriage (1-20). He then asks him to address Germanicus on his behalf (21-26). In 27-30 he says how grateful he will be if Germanicus assists him; at 31 he begins to address Germanicus directly in a tripartite defence of poetry. The first part (31-42) builds on 34 'Naso suis opibus,carmine, gratus erit': Ovid is now poor, but can still offer Germanicus his poetry. The second section (43-66) builds on 43-44 'nec tamen officio uatum percarminafacto / principibus res est aptior ulla uiris', and explains how verse brings immortality to great men and their deeds. The third section (67-78) offers culminating evidence for the value of poetry: Germanicus is himself a poet. Ovid moves from this to a final plea that Germanicus help his fellow-poet: once removed from Tomis, he will praise him in verse (79-88). In the final distich of the poem, he asks Suillius to assist his prayer.
The structure of the poem is similar to that ofTrV ii. In that poem Ovid addresses his wife for the first thirty-eight lines, tellingher of his misery and asking her to approach Augustus on his behalf. In the six lines that follow, he asks himself what he will do if she fails him; he answers that he will make his own direct approach to Augustus. The final thirty-four lines are his prayer to Augustus, in which he describes the hardships he endures at Tomis and begs for a mitigation of his punishment. It is remarkable that in both poems direct addresses to members of the imperial family should be disguised in this way: it seems probable thatTrII, Ovid's long defence of his conduct, had been received by Augustus with hostility, and that he was thenceforth more circumspect.
1-2. SERA QVIDEM ... GRATA TAMEN.Tamengoes withgrata, balancingquidem. For instances of the separateserus tamenidiom ('it is late in happening, but it does in fact happen') see Nisbet and Hubbard at HorCarmI xv 19.
1. SERA QVIDEM.It seems that in spite of his being a close relative of Ovid, Suillius, like Sextus Pompeius (see the introduction to i), had been reluctant to be openly associated with him.
1. STVDIIS EXCVLTE.'Refined'.Studiisadds little to the force ofexculte: the same idiom at Quintilian XII ii 1 'mores ante omnia oratoristudiiseruntexcolendi' and CicTuscI 4 'ergo in Graecia musici floruerunt, discebantque id omnes, nec qui nesciebat satisexcultus doctrinaputabatur'.
1. SVILLI.P. Suillius Rufus (PWIV A,l 719-22;PIR1S 700) is otherwise chiefly known to us from three passages of Tacitus: Suillius is presented as 'strong, savage, and unbridled' (SymeTacitus332). AtAnnIV 31, Tacitus describes how, in 24, Tiberius insisted that Suillius, convicted of accepting a bribe, be relegated to an island rather than merely be exiled from Italy; what seemed cruelty at the time later seemed wisdom in view of his later behaviour as a favourite of Claudius. AtAnnXI 1-7 Tacitus describes how Suillius' excesses resulted in a proposal in the Senate to revive thelex Cinciaof 204 BC, by which advocates had been forbidden remuneration: the proposal was modified by Claudius at the instance of Suillius and others affected so as to establish a maximum fee of ten thousand sesterces. AtAnnXIII 42-43 (AD 58) Tacitus tells how Suillius, 'imperitante Claudio terribilis ac uenalis', was charged with extortion as proconsul of Asia and with laying malicious charges under Claudius. Banished to the Balearic islands, he led a luxurious existence, remaining unrepentant.
3-4. PIA SI POSSIT SVPEROS LENIRE ROGANDO / GRATIA.Compare 21 'si quid agi sperabis posseprecando'.
5-6. ANIMI SVM FACTVS AMICI / DEBITOR.'Your friendly purpose has placed me in your debt' (Wheeler). The genitive similarly used for the cause of indebtedness at i 2'debitorestuitaequi tibi, Sexte, suae' andTrI v 10 'perpetuusqueanimae debitor huiusero'.
6. MERITVM VELLE IVVARE VOCO.'I call the desire to help a favour already given'. Ottouelle2 citesEPIII iv 79 'ut desint uires,tamen est laudanda uoluntas', Prop II x 5-6 'quod si deficient uires, audacia certe / laus erit: in magniset uoluisse sat est',Pan Mess3-7,Laus Pisonis214; the same proverb at SenBenV 2 2 'uoluntas ipsa rectum petens laudanda est'.
7. IMPETVS ISTE TVVS LONGVM MODO DVRET IN AEVVM.Similar phrasing atEPII vi 35-36 (Graecinus has been rendering Ovid assistance) 'fac modo permaneas lasso, Graecine, fidelis, /duret et in longas impetus iste moras'.
9. IVS ALIQVOD.'A certain claim on each other'. The same phrase for a similar situation atEPI vii 60 (to Messalinus, elder brother of Cotta Maximus) 'ius aliquodtecum fratris amicus habet'.
9. ADFINIA.Theadfiniswas a relative by marriage, commonly, as here, a son-in-law; a relative by common descent was acognatus.
9. ADFINIA VINCVLA.Vinculumused of family relationships atMetIX 550 (Byblis wishes to marry her brother) 'expetit ...uinclotecum propiore ligari' and CicPlanc27 'cum illo maximisuincliset propinquitatis etadfinitatisconiunctus'.
10. INLABEFACTA.The word elsewhere in Latin only at xii 29-30 'haec ... concordia ... uenit ad albentesinlabefactacomas'. Ovid is fond of using negative participles of this type.
11-12. NAM TIBI QVAE CONIVNX, EADEM MIHI FILIA PAENE EST, / ET QVAE TE GENERVM, ME VOCAT ILLA VIRVM.The same type of circumlocution atHerIII 45-48 (Briseis to Achilles) "diruta Marte tuo Lyrnesia moenia uidi; ... uidi ... tres cecidissequibus[Bentley: tribuscodd]quae mihi, mater erat'.
11. EADEM MIHI FILIA PAENE EST.This is presumably Perilla, the recipient ofTrIII vii, whom Ovid there speaks of in terms appropriate to a stepfather.
13-14. EI MIHI, SI LECTIS VVLTVM TV VERSIBVS ISTIS / DVCIS, ET ADFINEM TE PVDET ESSE MEVM.A similar lament atEPII ii 5-6 'ei mihi, si lecto uultustibi nomine non est / qui fuit, et dubitas cetera perlegere!'; both passages are followed by defences of Ovid's character.
Foruultum ... ducissee at i 5trahis uultus(p 149).
15. NIHILBCMFHLTNILI. Copyists were more prone to alterniltonihilthan the inverse; but in 1919 Housman demonstrated thatnihilwas Ovid's invariable form for the latter half of the first foot by pointing out that in all of the twenty-odd passages where the manuscripts offernihilornilat that position the following word invariably begins with a vowel (Collected Papers1000-1003). There would be no reason for such an avoidance of consonants if Ovid had allowednilin this position; he must therefore have usednihilalone.
16. FORTVNAM, QVAE MIHI CAECA FVIT.The image of Fortune being blind to a single individual seems very strange. Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests thatcaecacould mean 'unforeseeing', and byfortunamOvid could be referring to his own previous circumstances; alternatively,caecamight be a corruption induced by the familiar image of the blind goddess, replacing an original SAEVA (Riese) or LAEVA, for which compare Silius III 93-94 'si promissum uertatFortunafauorem, /laeuaque sit coeptis'.
17-18. SEV GENVS EXCVTIAS, EQVITES AB ORIGINE PRIMA / VSQVE PER INNVMEROS INVENIEMVR AVOS.A similar claim atTrIV x 7-8 'usque a proauis uetus ordinis heres, / non modo fortunae munere factus eques'. The status ofequeswas not hereditary except in the case of a senator's son. The Paeligni did not receive the citizenship until after the Social War; to be born to equestrian status, and to assume that he could have had a senatorial career (TrIV x 35), Ovid must have belonged to one of the dominant families of the region.
17. EXCVTIAS.'Examine'. Ovid plays on the primary meaning of the word, 'shake out', atAmI viii 45-46 'has quoque quae frontis rugas in uertice portant [Burman: quas ... portascodd] /excute; de rugis crimina multa cadent'. The transferred meaning had lost any sense of metaphor by Ovid's time, however; see especiallyTrII 224 'excutiasqueoculis otia nostra ['the product of my leisure hours'—Wheeler] tuis'.
19-20. SIVE VELIS QVI SINT MORES INQVIRERE NOSTRI, / ERROREM MISERO DETRAHE, LABE CARENT.A similar claim of no fault beyond hiserroratEPII ii 15-16 'est mea culpa grauis, sed quae me perdere solum / ausa sit, etnullum maius adorta nefas'.
20. ERROREM ... DETRAHE.AtMetII 38-39 the same phrase with a different meaning: (Phaethon to his father) 'pignora da, genitor, per quae tu uera propago / credar, et hunc animiserrorem['doubt']detrahenostris*.
20. LABE CARENT.The same sense oflabesatTrI ix 43 'uitaelabe carentis' and Prop IV xi 41-42 'neque ullalabemea nostros erubuisse focos'; compare as well the phrasesine labeatTrII 110 (domus),TrIV viii 33 (decem lustris ... peractis),EPI ii 143 (praeteriti anni),EPII vii 49 (uita prior),HerXVII 14 (tenor uitae), andHerXVII 69 (fama).
22. QVOS COLIS ... DEOS.A similar definition of the imperial family atEPII ii 123 'quos colis ad superoshaec fer mandata sacerdos'.
23. DI TIBI SVNT CAESAR IVVENIS.BCFM2ulread SINT; but the indicative seems to be required by the preceding 'quoscolis... deos' and the following 'tua numinaplaca' and 'hac certe nulla est notioraratibi'.
23. CAESAR IVVENIS.Germanicus; he would have acquired the cognomenCaesaron his adoption by Tiberius in AD 4.Iuuenisprobably refers to Germanicus' title ofprinceps iuuentutis, whichEPII v 41-42indicates he must have held: 'teiuuenum princeps, cui dat Germania nomen, / participem studii Caesar habere solet'. Germanicus' holding of the title is not elsewhere attested.
AtAnnIV 31 5, Tacitus identifies Suillius as 'quaestorem quondam Germanici'; atAnnXIII 42 4, he represents Suillius as saying of himself and Seneca 'se quaestorem Germanici, illum domus eius adulterum fuisse'. His service under Germanicus was clearly a principal fact of his life.
25-26. ANTISTITIS ... PRECES.Hereantistesis virtually equivalent tocultor, as atTrIII xiv 1 'Cultor et antistesdoctorum sancte uirorum'; compare as wellMetXIII 632-33 'Anius, quo ...antistitePhoebus / ritecolebatur'.
27-28. QVAMLIBET EXIGVA SI NOS EA IVVERIT AVRA, / OBRVTA DE MEDIIS CVMBA RESVRGET AQVIS.Ovid here mixes two nautical metaphors: if a ship is overwhelmed by high seas, a favouring breeze will not be of great assistance.
28. OBRVTA DE MEDIIS CVMBA RESVRGET AQVIS.Similar wording at [Sen]Oct345-48 '[cumba ...]obruta... ruit in pelagus rursumque salo / pressaresurgit'.
29. TVNC EGO TVRA FERAM RAPIDIS SOLLEMNIA FLAMMIS.Perhaps a verbal reminiscence ofAenIX 625-26 'Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnue coeptis. / ipse tibi ad tua templaferam sollemniadona'.
29. TVRA ... SOLLEMNIA.The phrase does not occur elsewhere in Ovid; but compare the passage fromAenIX quoted above, as well as the conjunction of words atTrIII xiii 16 'micaquesollemni turisin igne sonet'.
29. RAPIDISis here used as a standard epithet; its full force ('destructive') atMetII 122-23 'tum pater ora sui sacro medicamine nati / contigit etrapidaefecit patientiaflammae',MetXII 274-75 'correptirapida, ueluti seges arida,flamma/ arserunt crines', andEPIII iii 60 (to Amor) 'sic numquamrapidolampadesigneuacent'.
31-32. NEC TIBI DE PARIO STATVAM, GERMANICE, TEMPLVM / MARMORE.Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the reference to VirgilGIII 13-16 'et uiridi in campotemplum de marmoreponam ... in medio mihi Caesar erit templumque tenebit';Parii lapidesare mentioned at III 34. Here Ovid makes the temple literal, and conducts hisrecusatioin the terms used by love-poets.
32. CARPSIT OPES ... MEAS.'Has destroyed my wealth'. This is not strictly true, since Ovid at v 38 says that Pompeius give him gifts (Ovid's letter speaking) 'ne proprias attenuaret opes'.
The same use ofcarpereat ix 121-22 'fortuna est impar animo, talique libenter / exiguascarpomunere pauper opes' andAmI viii 91 'et soror et mater, nutrix quoquecarpatamantem'.
34. NASO SVIS OPIBVS, CARMINE, GRATVS ERIT.CompareAmII xvii 27 'sunt mihi pro magno felicia carmina censu' andAmI iii entire.